Pallister Urges Manitoba to Rethink Pesticide Ban

You don’t typically think of pesticides in the middle of January, but that’s exactly what’s on the mind of Manitoba’s Progressive Conservative Party.

Opposition Leader Brian Pallister on Tuesday urged the governing NDP to “proceed with caution” before banning all pesticides in the province.

“We are asking the NDP to listen to Manitobans,” Pallister said. “This government has a history of simply dropping policy on its citizens with little or no consultation.

Pallister said that while the government is attempting to improve the lives of Manitobans, each law has unintended consequences.

The Tories used a suburb of Chicago as an example in making their point, saying it aggressively banned pesticides only to reverse that decision after being overrun by weeds. A similar ban in B.C. was aborted before it went into place.

Ontario’s heavy pesticide ban has seen an unexpected spike in turf fields, which come with their own chemical consequences, Pallister said.

“We can find made-in-Manitoba solutions that address safety and the rights of Manitobans to protect their properties from weeds.”